Yearly Updates

2005 Fall Update - Part I - Status of research bears

Shadow is the 15-year-old matriarch of the Eagle's Nest
study bears.Although she was not a
frequent visitor to the field station this summer, she did bring her cubs in
several times between Aug 10and Sept 3 and on at least one occasion
(Aug 22) left them there unattended.She
moved west to the area she spent most of June and July in before moving again
to settle into her denning area in the remote southwestern portion of her
territory about Sept 30.

Blackheart

Eight-year-old Blackheart's last visit to the field station
was Aug 27.On Sept 1 she moved to an
area where she had denned in the past in the heart of her territory.On Sept 4 - during the first weekend of the
bear hunt - her signal disappeared from the study area.While we have no confirmation of her death, a
bait station was found near where she had been located the previous 3 days and
3 flights over the area since have not picked up her signal.As a pregnant female she likely would have
denned early.

RC

Six-year-old RC was a regular visitor to the field station
with her last visit on Sept 1.She
headed west into her territory where she wandered for several days before
finally settling into the area she habitually dens in on Sept 11.RC moved off to den early and we expect she
will have cubs this winter.

Dot

Five-year-old Dot does not visit the field station but
frequents a home in the eastern part of the study area where she is fed.After regular visits to this home she and her
3 cubs moved out on Oct 7.They were
found in a dug den on Oct 20 about half a mile from last year's den

Donna

Five-year-old Donna's last visit to the field station was
Aug 23.She and her 2 cubs moved east
into her territory and by Sept 21 had settled in a remote area where she
appears to be denning.On Oct 1,
concerned by her inactive signal, I walked in on her but stopped when I got
close and her signal became active.On
the way in I found extensive feeding on winterberry and a scat full of
winterberry seeds.

Hazel

Four-year-old Hazel and her 3 cubs visited the field station
on Sept 5 then headed west into remote areas of her territory where they spent
nearly 3 weeks - including 6 days between Stuntz
Bay
and Mattson
Bay
on Lake
Vermillion
- before returning to the field station on Sept 25.The family moved out again on Oct 3 and
settled into their denning area Oct 7 on the far western edge of Hazel's
territory just north of Rte 169.

June

After 4-year-old June's return from her sojourn to the
Boundary Waters the third week of September she settled into a cedar/black ash
swamp and seemed to barely change bed sites.She and her 2 cubs continued to frequent the homes were they are fed but
their daily activities were confined to the swamp with its multiple beds sites.On the evening of Oct 5 she headed west and
we hoped she would den.The next morning
she was found just over a mile away - bedded among thick cedars.Scats collected from June and George that day
contained hair and bone chips indicating they had likely been feeding on a
carcass.On Oct 7 she was back in her
previous bedding area where she remained until Oct 23 when her signal
disappeared again.After a ground search
for her signal Lynn Rogers flew in search of
her.Much to his surprise he found her
signal very close to her last known location.After a more intense ground search he found her denned in a buried metal
tank a mere quarter mile from the homes she frequents.The metal tank and the rocky outcrop nearby had
effectively blocked her signal from most directions - but the hole in the top
of the tank had allowed a strong signal to be heard from above.

Braveheart

Although the majority of 3-year-old Braveheart's territory
is north of Rte 169 she was a regular visitor to the field station.Between May 17 and Oct 12 she spent 8 periods
of from 1-17 days south of the highway - with alternate periods of 1-27 days
north of the highway.When she headed
north on Oct 02 after 17 consecutive daily visits to the field station we felt
she was going off to den, but on Oct 7 she came back for another 5 days.On her next trip north on or about Oct 15 her
largest male cub was hit by a vehicle and killed.After some subsequent movements that appeared
fairly erratic, Braveheart and her remaining 2 cubs settled in the far
northeast corner of her territory on or about Oct 23.

Juliet

Two-year-old Juliet was a regular visitor to the field
station for most of the summer - sort of our resident bear.She left and headed back for her territory
south of Soudan on Sept 1 - the first day of the bear hunt.I located her that day partway back to her
territory in an area of known bear baiting.I was relieved to find her signal the next day in her territory.However, when I heard an inactive signal on
Sept 4, I became concerned she may have been injured.On Sept 5 I walked in on her signal with some
trepidation, not knowing what I would find.I was relieved to find her radio-collar at the base of a small red pine
marking tree.Because she headed off to
den early we suspect she is pregnant.We
won't be able to do a den visit this winter to check for cubs - but we are
hopeful she is fine and will return next spring to be re-collared.

Sunshine

Yearling Sunshine spent the first 2 weeks after ‘family
breakup' within her mother Blackheart's territory - as is common for yearling
offspring - then vanished for 5 days before returning.As we monitored her movements over the course
of the summer we found she was frequenting an area near the southwest corner of
Burntside
Lake
and we suspect this is where she had been those 5 days.Sunshine seems to have established a
territory far outside her mother's territory.She moved fairly quickly between the area around field station and her
territory near Burntside and was seldom located between two.She moved to this area on Oct 6 and we expect
she is denning there.

Solo

Yearling Solo remained within her mother Blackheart's
territory and became a frequent visitor to the field station.Because Solo is missing her right ear we have
a hard time keeping a collar on her.She
lost her collar 5 times after Aug 20.Twice her collar was found at the base of a utility pole - worked off in
the process of marking the pole.Fortunately we were able to get another collar on her fairly quickly
each time she slipped one.Assuming
Blackheart has been killed, Solo is well poised to take over her
territory.She has remained active far
into the fall but seems to be settling in on the north side of Eagles
Nest Lake
3.

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